6 negotiation tips and tricks to always get what you want

If you’re leading a project or new business or in an intense job interview, the ability to negotiate is like a silver bullet. Many people get negotiation confused with confrontation. Some people love confrontation, in fact they live for it. However, since this piece is about peaceful negotiation tips, our first piece of advice would be to not be confrontational.

But that’s just common sense. In these scenarios you will have to be making arguments against, most likely, bigger influencers than you. You’ll probably always be in the underdog position. Knowing the science behind negotiations will be a huge leg-up.

This infographic from Business Insider details six priceless negotiating rules that will, as they crassly put it, “get you anything you want”. Take that headline with a pinch of salt since it sounds as if it’s been written by some tyrannical, power-mad villain, but take the advice seriously.

Here are a handful of great negotiation tips from the aforementioned infographic:

1. Negotiate in person

“Email allows people to avoid a direct confrontation (again, not aggressively) and take more time to craft a strong response. Also it’s harder to misjudge tone when speaking face-to-face”. You can try all you want to avoid eye-contact but your phone can’t seal a deal like you can.

“Sitting on the edge of your seat could make you look overeager. Drumming your nails could make you seem impatient. And crossing your arms could you appear intimidated”. That’s a lot to think about, we know. Your best bet is keep your breathing steady, eye contact relaxed and your mind focusing on the task at hand, not where your feet are.

3. Set your goals in advance

“Without knowing what you want to achieve before heading into a negotiation, you allow the opposing side to define your goals”. Generally, you don’t want this.

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